Many types of surgical procedures involve access, such as via an incision, and inserting an instrument or implant into the body via the incision. Sometimes, for such access, it can be desirable to retract the skin around the incision, which may involve pulling skin away from the incision, or away from underlying tissue or organs, such as to allow insertion of the instrument or implant.
For example, a breast prosthesis may involve insertion of a silicone breast implant substance into a subject's breast, such as via an incision. A pair of retractors may be used by the implanting physician to spread the skin around the incision. The retractors may include an elongated handle portion, and an orthogonal blade extending away from the handle portion. The orthogonal blade can be worked under the skin to be retracted, such as to separate the skin to be retracted from underlying tissue or organs to allow easier retraction. The breast implant material can then be inserted through the incision using a desired instrument.
Some illustrative examples of breast implant techniques are mentioned in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,211,173, 8,641,758, 8,555,893, and U.S. Pat. No. 9,168,126.